Daria : Is This College?
by fatalBe4uty
Summary: This is my first fanfic. It's my take on 'My Night at Daria's' if Daria and Tom actually went through with it. Then continuing on with her life in college trying a long distance relationship. Romance, drama, humour and all other things that go with college life. Rated M for language, situations and smut. Includes show and original characters.
1. Chapter 1

As explained: This will be my take on 'My Night at Daria's' but with them going through with it.

I have always loved the Daria series and recently purchased the series in full causing me to want to alter it to be more adult like I am now.

If I have readers and reviews I will continue to write though I do realize Daria isn't as relevant as it used to be.

Of course I know I do not own the rights to Daria or any of the characters. I am merely borrowing them for my and your enjoyment.

Thank you in advance for your kind reviews.. Now let's enjoy the story.

-•-

Chapter One

-•-

Daria walked slowly to the door. She knew it was Tom but had no idea what to say. She had stood him up on the very most special day they had planned. It was inevitable. The note wasn't enough. Tom wanted to break up with her to her face. She guess he deserved at least that much.

She turned the knob slowly and pulled the door open.

"Oh. Um. You got my note?" Daria said.

The couple walked down to the park. Oh great, Daria thought, he would prefer to publicly humiliate me. At least everyone would know the rumour was false then.

Tom sat on a bench. Daria sat next to him.

"Daria," he spoke first. "How could you do this to me?"

"I can't help it if I'm not ready. I can't change the way I feel" Daria responded trying to defend herself.

"Not that. I mean, how could you dump me without even talking it over?" Tom said. He wasn't even mad about her standing him up.

"Look, we both agreed that sleeping together would bring us closer," Daria began "so... not doing it must be driving us apart"

Tom looked at Daria and said "No, _you_ said it would bring us closer and I said, fine, if that's the way you feel. I wasn't pushing this, _you_ were, remember? I was perfectly happy with our relationship just the way it was."

"Perfectly happy?" Daria smirked.

"Okay, very content. The point is, you're not ready. I understand." Tom said. He sounded understanding but he didn't understand.

Daria paused. It wasn't that she wasn't ready. Just like Jodie said. They had been together a long time now. There's nothing to be ashamed of as long as they used the neon birth control devices. Then, what was it? She was scared. Scared of being so close to him. She had to say something. He is understanding maybe he'd understand this too.

"No, you _don't understand_. It's not that I'm not ready. It's that I'm scared." She started to explain

"Same thing." Tom said.

"No, it's _not_ the same thing. I just admitted that I'm scared." Daria explained further. "The thought of that much intimacy... it's just overwhelming to me."

"Oh." Tom said. He paused and Daria waited for him to process. "Daria, you know I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable." He added after a second.

However Daria had more she was scared of. "And even if I could handle it, what if you were disappointed?" She added "Our whole relationship could be ruined."

Tom thought a second longer, then spoke. "You don't want to have sex because you're afraid it'll hurt our relationship, and then you break up with me. Doctor, my head."

Daria thought that's what he'd want especially after she stood him up. She thought it meant so much to him to take it to the next level.

"I thought that's what you'd want." She said.

"Think again." Tom replied and moved in to kiss her. He gently put his lips on hers. They felt so warm. Despite her fear of intimacy she adored kissing him. He was a rather good kisser. She didn't have anyone to compare it to but when they kissed she felt tingles all over. It shot a shock down between her legs. Maybe she did want to take it to the next level. Her body certainly did. Why was she so confusing?

Tom pulled away and interrupting her thought process by speaking. "You know, I think that, despite ourselves, we just reached a new level of intimacy."

Daria smirked remembering the thoughts she was just having. "And lived to tell about it."

The couple began to kiss again. Daria's body began to beg for more again while her brain tried to rationalize. Was it fair to even ask him to take it further now? She was crazy. Why was she scared? This was being intimate and she craved this feeling. She didn't have to be afraid of Tom. He was her first boyfriend and the sweetest guy she knew, without being too muchy. He was the one she wanted to give her virginity to. She wasn't scared anymore. She was ready.

"Tom" Daria said pulling away from their kiss. Yes, she thought all that while kissing him.

"Daria" Tom said back waiting for her to say what she was going to say.

Daria took his hand and stared into his eyes. He was what she wanted.

"I'm ready."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

-•-

Daria was still holding Tom's hand as they walked up the front stairs of her house. She still had electricity pumping all over her body. She turned the knob but the door was locked. She pulled out her key. They walked into the house which was quieter then she remembered.

"Hello" Daria called out. "Anyone home?"

The silence answered back. This was too perfect. She smiled at Tom, wrapping her arm around him and pulled him in for another kiss.

"Guess we got the place to ourselves." She said taking his hand and guiding him upstairs to her room.

Daria slipped out of her green jacket and sat down on the bed with Tom following by sitting beside her. She gently pushed against him guiding him to lay down as she slid towards him to lay on top of him. She kissed him briefly before Tom pushed her away.

"Daria" Tom said looking a little confused. "What are we doing?"

Daria felt a little upset. She finally was willing and now he was questioning it?

"Uh.. It?" She said.

Tom grabbed her hand. "But are you sure you're ready?" I don't want you to regret this."

"I told you I'm ready. You're right I have nothing to be scared of. I was just over analyzing like I always do." Daria said. "I want this to happen." Daria thought. She did want this and she wanted it to happen right now. Not scheduled like last time. This way she had no time to think about it anymore and convince herself against it.

"There won't be any regrets, I mean, as long as you still have your birth control device." She added.

Tom grinned and pulled out the not neon condom from his pocket. Luckily even after her break up note he was still prepared. Daria smirked back at him and Tom grasped the back of her head, kissing his lips against that smirk.

Tom pushed his body against Daria's, gently forcing her to lay down again. As his body hovered above her he stopped kissing and stared down at her.

"I love you Daria" he said.

Daria froze. Great. That wasn't what she expected to happen. What should she say? He's going to be so hurt if she didn't say it back. Did she love him? She wanted to have sex with him. Wasn't that enough? No of course not. He was sensitive. She had to say something. She was stalling for too long.

"You too" she said and pressed her lips against his hoping it would be enough. Actually saying the word love, it was just too big of a word for her at this moment.

Tom kissed back indicating it was good enough for him. Daria arched her back slightly pushing her torso up to meet his. Much to her surprise she felt something stiffer than usual between his legs beneath his cargo pants. He was definitely ready for this.

Daria decided her hands laying there doing nothing should be doing something. So she ran her hand through his hair pulling him deeper into the kiss. With that, Tom braced himself on one elbow lowering himself onto her body even more and used the other hand to slip under her orange shirt. Daria reacted slightly having her breast not usually a point of interest. It felt good she decided. Meanwhile Tom began thrusting his clothed body against hers. She could feel his erection even more that way and it was rubbing against the right spot. Daria pushed him up slightly and pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it to the side. She paused and stared at his bare chest. He had decently defined muscles and nice broad shoulders. She knew she was attracted to him but now here she was ogling him like he was a piece of meat. It may have been her horomones talking but she found him very sexy right now.

"Not too shabby Mr. Sloane" she said giggling. Did she just giggle? She wasn't sure she knew how to giggle.

Tom grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it off her as well exposing her black but simple bra and thin frame.

"Not so shabby yourself Ms. Morgendorffer." Tom said reaching behind to unclasp said bra. He succeeded and tossed it aside as well. Despite his sarcasm, Tom found her naked torso unbelievable. Her skin was pearlescent, with small but perky breasts. Her nipples already hard showing her arousal. Daria flinched for a second having herself so exposed but after she glanced at Tom's expression she didn't feel nervous. She actually felt pretty. Like she was really wanted.

Tom bent down bringing his mouth to her nipple. She flinched again but only because that part of her was so sensitive. He grinned up at her and went towards the nipple again. This time Daria braced herself for it and let herself feel what he was doing. Her body was swept by goosebumps and she could feel the excitement between her legs again.

At that Daria decided she couldn't wait anymore. Both because she had no idea when the rest of her Morgendorffer clan would return and she wanted to have him already. She reached down and grasped his erection through his pants. This caused Tom to flinch but he enjoyed this ferocity from the usually relaxed docile girl he knew.

Tom got the hint. He removed his pants, exposing his underwear being stretched in the front and reached up her skirt to find some panties. He pulled on them and Daria rose her hips allowing him to pull them down. Then Tom returned his hand under her skirt and found a small moist slit. He slipped his index finger just slightly into the moist area and Daria surged with pleasure. She glanced at his erection through his tight boxer briefs, surprised by the size. Although she hadn't seen a penis, hard or otherwise, before other than the diagrams from health class. This definitely wasn't a picture. She imagined for a second how he would feel inside her and then began to worry. Considering she had difficulty using tampons. She pushed the thought away and enjoyed the feeling of his fingers caressing her.

Tom slid her fingers up and down, spreading the moisture and resonating where Daria seemed to react the most. When he felt so built up himself he couldn't contain it he stopped, sat up and removed his own underwear. Daria stared into the shaft pointing straight at her. She felt both aroused and intimidated. This was it. Could she handle it? She knew it being her first time that it would hurt but how much would it hurt?

Tom picked up the condom from the bed beside them, ripped it open and rolled it down over his penis. Daria thought he seemed more experienced then her but maybe he's just been practicing. Tom returned to his position hovering over her. She could feel that ominous penis right at her opening. With her eyes shut tight, she took a deep breath and braced herself.

She felt a hand on her face. She opened her eyes to Tom staring longingly at her. He leaned down a kissed her gently.

"Are you sure that this is what you want Daria?" Tom asked always being so caring.

Daria tried to look relaxed and whispered. "It's what I want."

Tom kissed her again, while slowly beginning to push himself inside of her. Daria clenched her teeth. Feeling some pressure but it didn't hurt.

"Are you ok?" Tom asked nervously.

"Yea" Daria answered. And with that Tom pushed himself in a little deeper. He shuddered as Daria felt a sharp pain. Oh this is where it will hurt but he was prolonging it by going so slowly. She pushed up against him to get it over with quicker and let out a gasp. It hurt quite a bit but Daria didn't stop. Tom moaned as he pulled out slightly and thrusted back in deep. Daria made small whimpering noises as Tom continued to thrust. It began to feel less painful the longer it went on and she could tell Tom was enjoying this. After a few quicker thrusts, Tom shuddered again and allowing himself to drop his weight onto Daria. They laid there for a few minutes breathing heavily. Daria wrapped her arms around Tom and sighed.

She was no longer a virgin. And lived to tell about it.


	3. Chapter 3

Well that was it! They did it. We can all die happy. (Quiet Tom haters) This next chapter will be some filler but keep reading! It'll get better I think!

-•-

Chapter Three

-•-

Tom and Daria sit on the bed, fully clothed again. Daria was feeling sore now. As if she had a bruise down there. Tom on the other hand was ecstatic.

"You know Daria I'm really glad you changed your mind" he said grinning at her. "It didn't hurt you too much did it?"

"No not too much" Daria answered "I am a little sore though now so I think I'll need some time before we do that again."

"Take all the time you need." Tom said reaching for her hand. "I meant it when I said I love you, you know."

"I know" Daria said looking down at their interlocked hands.

With that the couple heard some movement and voices downstairs. Perfect excuse to not talk about this right now.

"Sounds like my parents are home, maybe you should go" Daria said "I'll see you later." She said standing up, kissing him briefly and then leading him downstairs.

...

"Hey Jane" Daria spoke into the cordless phone up against her ear.

"Daria, how was your night last night?" Jane asked

"I didn't go." Daria said

"Ouch, you stood him up? While his mini me was standing up..?" Jane said "How'd he take that?

"He took it fine apparently" Daria answered "but then.. we kind of did it this afternoon."

Daria could hear Jane's mouth drop. "Wait, what?! You stood him up to just to give it up today? Daria, you harlot!"

"Shh.." Daria insisted "I'm sure my parents could hear you from there."

"Well, how was it?" Jane asked laughing.

"Uh.. Well it was ok" Daria said "It did kind of hurt, but not that bad."

"Phew. If you think it's not that bad I'll be fine. I can't believe you actually went through with it." Jane said

"Me neither but it was kind of a now or never thing." Daria explained. "Jane.. He said he loved me."

The other line was quiet for a second. "Oh.." Jane said finally. "That is big"

...

Daria was sitting crossed-legged on the couch, as if she were trying to hide her secret. Her mother walked into the room.

"Uh.. Daria?" Helen spoke.

"Tom and I didn't have sex, and we're not going to any time soon. Unless, of course, a bomb goes off and, as Earth's last two survivors, we must replenish the human race. Although, frankly, that's not motivation enough for me." Daria spouted mindlessly. Possibly saying too much, Daria thought.

However, Helen seemed to sigh in relief.

"Well, I can't say I'm not somewhat relieved. I just want you to know that whatever decisions you make in life, I'm on your side and..." Helen moved towards her daughter who deflected her advance with the newspaper she was holding. She needed some good old fashion sarcasm to cement her mothers belief in her statement.

Daria began "So instead, we've decided to sublimate our urges by traveling cross-country with a motorcycle gang."

Helen raised an eyebrow. "All right. You just remember to call home on Sunday nights."

Her mothers response caught Daria off guard. "Hey!" she shouted lowering the paper. Sometimes her family wasn't so bad.

...

Back in her room Daria received another phone call.

"Hello Daria" the other end spoke. It was Tom.

"Why if it isn't my motorcycling gang mate" Daria said smirking.

"What?" Tom said in confusion.

"Sorry, inside joke" Daria replied "I guess our intimacy level increase has caused you to desire my constant presence." She was feeling silly, whether it was the horomones revving up again, her exchange with her mother, or both. "I only saw you, two hours ago."

"Although I would enjoy your constant presence, that is not my purpose of this call" Tom replied wittily. That was one of the things she liked about him. "I'm going away next weekend to the cove.. For a week.."

"Oh.." Daria responded feeling a little defeated. She would enjoy his constant presence as well. At least for the next little while.

"Yea it's my cousins wedding.. so.. I'll really miss you." Tom said

"I'll miss you too." Daria said

"Well I'll be sure to hang out before I leave." Tom said.

"Sure" Daria said. "Call you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Daria"


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the delay. Holidays. This chapter is also rather long due to a lot of dialogue plus I wanted to reference the show to be accurate to the situations that have occurred already. It will be easier once I can write from my head. Keep reading and reviewing.

Chapter 4

Daria had been having a difficult week leading up to the day Tom would be leaving for the cove. She knew that it wasn't his choice to leave her for a week right after what they did. At least she hoped not. Sex was complicated. For her at least.

She was walking down the hall with Jane. As inappropriate as it might be she had to talk about her thoughts to someone. So she decided to talk to Jane.

"Did I tell you Tom's goi

ng away for a week?" Daria began.

Jane responded "To 'the cove'?"

"How'd you know?" Daria asked

"That's the only place his family ever goes. I think they're training a secret militia up there." Jane said.

Daria smirked "I wish. That's so much more exciting than them just being too damn cheap to go anywhere interesting."

Jane asked "Hey, how do you think old money gets old?" Daria remembered she needed to vent her feelings though.

"Thing is, I can't help feeling like he's trying to put some space between us now. Since you know." Daria said

"Ohh.. I see." Jane said "Was there anyway for him to get out of it?"

"It's for a family wedding so I doubt it" Daria responded

"Well then, probably just bad timing." Jane tried to reassure her. "I'd try to think too much about it"

Daria decided to change the subject. Jane hadn't been in her position before so she couldn't understand. "Anyway, more time for you and me to hang out."

"Haven't we had this conversation before? Only I said what you're saying and you said what I'm saying?" Jane asked.

...

Sometimes Daria had forgotten that Jane and Tom had dated first. Despite the fact Jane had gotten over it, there were still times when she seemed like she hadn't. Daria desperately wanted someone else to talk to about her feelings but she couldn't tell anyone.

She was heading to Tom's house now. Would he think she was being too needy if she asked him about how he was feeling? Probably. She had to just act normal. Like it hadn't changed anything.

At Tom's place he let her in and after a brief kiss he led her to the couch where he was watching Sick, Sad World.

The TV announced 'They gave her a good-bye party at 65... miles per second! Retirement by rocket, next on _Sick, Sad World.'_

Tom picked up the remote and turned off the TV. "So I asked my parents and it's cool with them if you want to come up for a couple of days." Tom said breaking their silence.

Daria had to stay cool. Would she like to go there? She didn't like weddings. Did he really want her to go or was he just being nice? "I can't stand to go to _my_ family's weddings. What makes you think I could ever go to _yours? _She finally spoke.

"Come up after the wedding." Tom said.

"Oh, sure, so I can get there just as the marriage starts to disintegrate." Daria said. She really hated these things.

Tom sighed and Daria thought he might have really wanted her there. At least it wasn't something for her to worry about him running away from her. Plus she told Jane they could hang out now and she didn't want Jane to feel she was choosing Tom over her.

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but you know... too many people, not enough evacuation routes. I'll see you when you get back." She said.

Tom replied "I'm worried. I don't think you can really do without me for a week."

"No, _you_ should worry that once I remember what it's like not to have you cramping my style, I'll want to make it permanent." Daria said with a smirk.

"Romantic." Tom said

"You know me" Daria responded moving in for a kiss.

...

Daria was home feeling a little better about the Tom situation. He had left already but they had spoken once on the phone already. However, there was something else bothering her. This large refrigerator box reminded Daria of a situation from her past and her mother wouldn't acknowledge it. Her father was 'away' on a last minute trip. She asked Quinn about it as well but her sister couldn't recall them having a box.

She was up in her room and needed to feel better. She decided to call Tom.

"Hello" Tom answered on the other end.

"So when are you coming home?" Daria cut right to the chase.

Tom said "Next week, like I said."

"Can you get back any sooner?" She asked. She really wanted to see him.

"I wish I could. Wait, are you kidding?" Tom replied sounding a little caught off guard.

Daria felt bad she couldn't even banter with him. "Do you have to make fun of me?"

"I'm not making fun of you. But what happened to 'I don't care if you're here or not'?" Tom said

Daria really wanted to get away to stop feeling so weird about the situation at home. "It's changed. Listen, do you still want me to come up there?"

"Well, you could, but it's even duller than I thought. I mean, it would be great for _me_ if you came up, but I think _you'd_ have a horrible time." Tom said

"So _you_ lied to me, too." Daria couldn't believe he didn't want to see her.

"What are you talking about?" Tom asked.

Daria - You said you wanted me to come up. Now you say you don't.

Tom - That's not what I said at all! Come on up, I want you to, it'll be great.

Daria - No, thanks.

_(Tom sighs)_

Daria - Call me tomorrow, okay?

Tom - Daria, seriously, is something wrong?

Daria - Call me tomorrow, all right? Bye. _(hangs up)_

Daria couldn't believe it. The one person she thought would help didn't want her around either. Daria tried to call the one other person who would be willing to help her despite how crazy she felt.

...

A few hours later Daria stood in her backyard with Jane. They both stared down at the refrigerator box from earlier.

Jane spoke first. "Well, you spoke the truth. It's a box, all right."

"It's more than a box." Daria said.

"Um, from here it looks like _exactly_ a box." Jane laughed.

Daria was frustrated. "I mean, that box is trying to tell me something." She said.

Jane listened for second. "If you say so. All I hear is the rustle of a gentle breeze wafting through cardboard. Quite soothing, really."

Daria listened too. "You're right, it _is soothing_."

Jane said. "I was just kidding."

Daria went down on her hands and knees. "No, there's something about it" she said as she began to crawl inside.

Jane stared at Daria astonished. "Um, Daria? What are you doing?"

Daria was sitting inside the box. "Yes. This is right."

And suddenly she remembered why a fridge box was so important to her. Her parents had gotten into a big fight one night and her dad had left.

Quinn ran up while Daria was still sitting in the box.

"Daria!" Quinn shouted. "I remembered! You were right! I remembered I was three or four and it was nighttime and I woke up because Mom and Dad were fighting, and then Dad was yelling and a door slammed and then I heard a car start up and he drove away."

Daria looked out of the box. "Thank you. I knew I wasn't imagining it. Do you remember what they were fighting about?"

"Um... yeah... they were fighting about you." Quinn relied.

Daria went back into the box and began thinking. She remembered the whole thing.

Her parents had fought about her. She had a meeting about how she was doing socially at school and that night she caused a fight between her parents and her dad left. She had this box to comfort her then and it was comforting her now.

...

Daria had been sitting in the box most of the afternoon and it was now the evening. She had thanked Jane for coming over and told her she just needed some time to think and that was what she had done. She had a lot to think about. Her whole life ever since she was a kid she avoided people. Even now, she had limited friends. She did have a boyfriend but she was always so confused and pressured about their relationship. What made it so hard?

And the worst part was she had no one to talk to about everything that was going on in her head. Her parents continued to lie to her about the fight in the first place. It was awkward talking to Jane about the fight because she didn't understand. It was more awkward talking to Jane about everything going on with Tom. Jane must still harbor resentment about them being together. Now they'd taken their relationship further than Jane had ever been. She didn't understand that either because she had never done it before.

Everything she was going through right now could have been easier if she had just been the child her parents wanted rather than the person she was. She had to change how she was. High school was over soon and she'll be meeting a ton of new people. She had to stop being so closed off.

"Come on, Daria. Come out of the box. We want to talk to you." Daria heard her mother say from outside the box interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah, come on, kiddo. We'll all have a nice talk." Jake said.

It was her dad. He was back. Still, was she ready to talk to them? "No." Daria replied.

Helen spoke next. "Daria, you can't spend the rest of your life in there."

"I can once they put in my high-speed Internet connection." Daria responded.

"Daria... please come out?" Her father begged.

She felt bad for her father. He was always so caring towards her and here he was begging to speak to her. Step one of becoming more social I guess. But she needed to hear the truth from them.

"All right," she spoke, "but you have to promise to be completely honest with me."

"Um... uh... okay." Helen said

"Honest it is!" Jake added.

Daria crawled out and the three of them went inside and sat on the couches.

"When I was six years old, did you have a big fight about me?" Daria began the questioning.

"Yes." Helen said

"No" Jake said with Helen. "...yes" he added afterwards.

"I'd forgotten all about it. Quinn reminded us." Helen tried to convince Daria.

"Why were you fighting?" She asked.

Helen began to explain. "Daria, you have to understand. We kept getting calls from the school. You wouldn't talk to the other children. You wouldn't play with the other children. We knew how smart you were, talking to you was like talking to a miniature adult, but you wouldn't engage with the other kids.

"They didn't interest me." Daria said in defence.

"That's what you said." Jake said.

"Your father was in a job he hated, with a really sadistic boss." Helen continued.

Jake began to go to another place. "Lousy mini-Mussolini..." He muttered.

"Jake!" Helen shouted.

"Tense, Daria. I was very tense." Her father said coming back.

"I was trying to resume a full-time workload and still raise two young girls. We were _all_ tense. Your problems at school were sort of the straw that broke the camel's back. We had an argument, your father stormed off, spent the night in a motel..." Helen said trying to comfort Daria.

"A crappy motel." Jake added.

"..and the next day, we made up and carried on." Daria's mother finished up.

"So I caused a big marital rift." Daria said not feeling comforted despite her parents best effort.

"Not a rift, Daria." Jake said.

"We had a fight one night. You happened to be the topic, not the cause." Helen added.

Daria thought for a moment. It was a little reassuring that her parents were making such an effort to make her feel better although she didn't. Her parents rarely fought in her recent memory. Her father definitely hadn't left to stay in a motel. There had to be more to it than they were saying and she was the reason. She had made their life so much more difficult at such a young age and she was still very much like that little girl.

She was also so angry with her parents for lying to her. Meanwhile she was lying to them about what happened between her and Tom recently. It wasn't like it was something to share with your parents but she couldn't help but feel a little bad after being so angry at them for lying. Her absent virginity plus the phone argument with Tom suddenly made her worry about that again.

Daria decided she needed to go. She needed some time to sort all the thoughts going through her head. She also had to apologize to Tom before she caused a rift in her relationship. She had to discuss her feelings with him and how much he really meant to her, even though she was always so reluctant to show it.

Without speaking again to her parents, Daria stood up, walked out of the house.

"Daria?" Helen said.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

On her way out Daria grabbed the keys to her mother vehicle off the table and walked directly to it. She stopped for a half a second, to ponder the grand theft auto she was about to attempt. Then decided her mother wouldn't be too worried since this wasn't the first time she had taken it, opened the door and climbed in. Her parents appeared in the front door looking bewildered just as she was reversing out the driveway.

Daria had already started on her way towards the cove when she thought it may not be the best thing to just show up. She pulled out her cell phone and dialled the number to the cove.

Tom's mother answered. "Hello? Mrs. Sloane? Is Tom there? Daria asked. He wasn't there. Apparently he had just run out for a bit with his cousins. "Well, would it be okay if I took you up on your offer to visit?" She asked waiting for a response. Of course Tom's mother said that would be fine. "I can be there in about four hours. Thanks very much, Mrs. Sloane."

He wasn't even there. It's not as if he expected her to come out. She couldn't let this upset her. There was no way she would beat him there. She would see him as soon as she got there. Of course it would start to rain though she thought as drops began to speckle the windshield.

Not long after the rain began it became a full fledged storm. Suddenly, the car in front of her spun out causing Daria to react. She quickly turned the wheel, which caused the SUV to spin slightly as well but she corrected, skidding to a stop on the side of the road.

Daria took a few deep breaths. She couldn't believe she almost just crashed. She hadn't gotten to speak to Tom yet. She hadn't even said a word to her parents before she left. Thankfully, she was ok.

A knock on the window interrupted her thoughts. A man stood at the window.

"Miss, are you all right? Miss! Miss!" He was shouting.

Daria snapped out of her thoughts and rolled the window down. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." She responded.

After the near crash, Daria couldn't face driving the highway for another almost 4 hours. She drove stopping at the Diner and called the only other person she needed to see.

...

Daria sat in a booth waiting. The weather must have been causing a hold up. Over an hour had past. In that time she had called her mom and told her she was sorry for storming out, about the near accident and that she was just taking some time for the storm to let up before coming back. Her parents understood and we're just relieved she was ok. Daria smirked thinking about her parents. They definitely weren't normal parents but she had lucked out. After calling home her phone had died so she had no way to contact anyone further. She had to wait now though. Out the window Daria saw Trent's car pull up. She felt relieved it made it here.

Jane walked in and Daria couldn't help herself. She ran up and hugged her best friend. This was another step in the more socially acceptable direction. Except to Jane, who stared at Daria in disbelief.

The girls sat back down at the booth ordered a coffee each and just sat and talked. First about the near accident, then about Jane's visit when Daria refused to leave the box leading up to Daria storming off.

"I'm not quite getting this. You ran off because of a fight your parents had 11 years ago?" Jane questioned.

"It's not the fight. It's the sudden realization that all these years, when I thought _they_ were torturing _me_, in reality _I_ was the one torturing _them_." Daria had figured this out while waiting for Jane to show up.

Jane raised one of her eyebrows. "First of all, I don't think it's either-or. From where I'm sitting, you and your folks have done a great job of torturing each other. And second of all, you mean to tell me you don't know when you're busting them?"

"Yes, I know when I'm busting them. What I didn't realize is what a pain I've been when I thought I was just being me." Daria said.

"Huh?"

"At age six, _I_ decide I don't need to talk to other kids ever again; my parents are the ones who get called into school. At 12, _I_ decide to try out some Shakespearean insults on my teachers; my parents are the ones who get called into school. At 15, _I_ start writing violent revenge fantasies just to get a reaction..." Daria began reliving all the strange things her parents had to deal with due to her being strange.

"Your parents, et cetera, et cetera. Gotcha. But I never got the idea that they minded that much." Jane replied.

"Yeah. Which just makes it even worse."

"You really need to discuss this with _them." _

"I know, but first I had to talk to someone I could trust." Daria said. She really valued her friend.

Jane looked around. "Yeah, I'm sorry you didn't make it to the cove."

"_I'm_ not." Daria said. "It would have been good to see Tom, but this way, I got to talk to the person I trust most."

Daria smiled at her friend who smiled back, looked over at the time then back. "Thanks." She said. "That being said, I called Tom for you on my way here. He kind of panicked because he couldn't reach you so I told him where you were."

"You what?" Daria said.

At that moment, Tom burst in the door. He ran over to their table and hugged Daria.

"I'm so glad you're ok" he said holding her face. He looked over at Jane. "Thanks for calling me."

"All in days work. You're here quicker than I thought you would be." Jane laughed. "Well I'll leave you to love bunnies now then."

She got up as Tom took her place across from Daria.

Daria looked at Jane. "Thanks for always being the best friend I could have ever asked for." She said.

Jane just turned and winked then walked towards the door.

After Jane had left, Tom sat staring at Daria. Now that he was here she didn't know what to say to him. She consciously ignored the whole thing about Tom with Jane so she had no time to sort out the words she had planned to say to him after she got to cove.

Tom spoke first. "Why were you coming to the cove?"

"I.. Uh.. Needed to talk to you." Daria said.

"You couldn't have waited until I got back and talked on the phone. You had me so worried, even before Jane called. Then I couldn't reach you!" Tom said frantic.

"I'm sorry." Daria said tears building in her eyes. She didn't plan on crying. "And no, what I meant to say is I needed to see you."

Tom grabbed Daria's hand across the table. "Don't cry. I'm sorry too. I'm not mad at you. But you have to talk to me. What's going on?"

Daria explained the entire box situation with her parents and her revelations about her character. He was more understanding then Jane surprisingly. He expressed always feeling like he was a disappointment to his parents too. Then she revealed her self conscious thoughts about them taking it to the next level.

"That's crazy Daria!" Tom exclaimed. "I thought I did something wrong because you seemed like you didn't want be around me. I invited you to come with originally remember."

"I know but I didn't want to seem any different" Daria said. "You like me and my sarcasm. I didn't want to turn into a needy girlfriend."

"Things have changed so it's ok to change with them. And I love you, your sarcasm and whatever else you become." Tom said. "Needy girlfriend included."

"I'm not planning on becoming a needy girlfriend. But I do enjoy having you around." Daria paused for a second. "I love you too.."

...

Tom followed Daria in his car as she drove home and waited out front as she went inside.

"Oh, thank God!" Helen said getting up from the couch. Jake followed her and they both hugged her. "But Daria, why did you have to run away when you heard that story about getting called in to school?"

"Yeah, we used to get called in to school all the time!" Jake said.

"Jake!" Helen shouted shooting him a glare.

Jake corrected. "I mean... we were used to it!"

"Jake!" Helen shouted again.

"I mean..." He tried again.

"Jake!"

"It was part of the deal. It was the other side to you being so smart and perceptive." He finished.

"What do you mean?" Daria asked.

"Daria, you can't have a child with your kind of intelligence and expect her to fit in easily with other kids. _We_ weren't happy to be called into school because we knew it meant _you _weren't happy." Helen stated.

"But we were never unhappy with _you." _Jake added.

"Oh. Well, that's good. Daria said pausing a moment. "Um... _do_ you think I'm a misfit?" She asked.

"Daria, you make your choices. We understand that." Helen said.

"Yeah!" Jake said. "We do?"

"Choices?" Daria said.

"Yes. Like deciding not to visit Tom while he was away. You choose not to interact and we understand. It doesn't make you a misfit." Helen said.

"It just makes me antisocial." Daria said. "Oh yea, about that. Tom is kind of outside waiting for me now. Is it ok if I _do _go to the cove now?"

"He's waiting for you now? It's pretty late, Daria." Helen began then paused. "You know what, sure. Go. Have fun."

"Thanks" Daria said, running upstairs to grab a few things. She stopped on the stairs and turned around. "I just want to say... it occurs to me that maybe I wasn't the easiest child in the world to raise, and, um... perhaps I'm quite lucky to have you for parents." Then continued up the stairs.


End file.
